How To Play The Last Of Us Like A Professional

Want to play The Last of Us the way a professional would?
Then take a gander at these invaluable tips that are in no way meant to be
funny.

Look, I get it. Not everyone is born with the exceptional
talents of a professional gamer, and even fewer players have time to hone their
modest skills to a respectable level. Difficult games like The Last of Us underscore
the difference between those of us who make a career out of being great at
video games, and those who merely play them as a hobby. Lucky for you, I'm here
to help.

I've put together invaluable gaming guides in the past to
help players through Skyrim,
Far
Cry 3, and Tomb
Raider. Today I'm back with a list of spoiler-free tips for surviving in
the deadly post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us. For each entry, I describe
how an amateur gamer might handle the situation. If these sound familiar, don't
fret; there's no shame in being terrible. Instead of beating yourself up, just
study the professional entries – they describe how I personally handled each
situation, so follow them closely to be more like me.

Situation: You
enter a new area with an obvious object of interest.How an amateur handles it: Walk up
to the object and investigate it.How a pro handles it:
Head in the opposite direction out of an underlying fear that looking at
the object will trigger a cutscene preventing you from exploring the rest of
the area. Scour every darkened corner and blocked stairway for collectibles.
Ignore the game's prompting to push L3 for a hint while wondering how stupid the
game must think you are. Accidentally stumble into the next area, triggering
the cutscene you were afraid of. Select the Restart Encounter option to see
what the object you missed was, only to realize the game just autosaved. Begrudgingly
restart the entire chapter and work your way back to the object of interest,
knowing full well it won't be worth the effort. Listen to Ellie mutter a few
lines of dialogue about the object, then erase the entire experience from your
mind and keep playing.

Situation: While
traveling with Tess through an area of the city controlled by hunters, you
sneak up on an unsuspecting enemy.How an amateur
handles it: Follow the onscreen button prompt to silently choke him.How a pro handles it:
Accidentally press the melee button and punch him in the back of the head.
Stand in a stupor as he responds by repeatedly beating you with a two-by-four
until Tess shoots him for you. Feel embarrassed that you just got showed up by
an NPC.

Situation: After
learning how to properly use the choke button, you and Tess enter an area full
of patrolling enemies.How an amateur
handles it: Pick off enemies one by one, grabbing each foe and walking them
to an out-of-sight area before choking them out.How a pro handles it:
Sneak through the entire area undetected without killing anyone, because
bad karma is the last thing you need right now. Spot one final enemy lying in
wait by the exit. Hide behind a shipping container and throw a brick behind him
to district him, before realizing that the noise also tipped off every other enemy
in the area. Try to choke the final guard in vain while all the other enemies
spot you. Curse as you realize you just killed your human shield. Get shot
repeatedly, then hide behind the container and wait for Tess to shoot everyone.

Situation: While
trying to stealth your way through the next area, you get spotted by enemies
(again), who begin ambushing your location.How an amateur
handles it: Fall back to the previous area and hide. Go back on offense
when the guards return to their positions.How a pro handles it:
Stand your ground like a man! Wait for the first guard to run up and draw
your gun, only to realize you're still holding a brick. Try to throw the brick
at him, but get punched in the face. Duck back down and switch to your gun while
Tess shoots him. Draw your weapon and aim at the second guy as he runs right
past you and out of sight before you can fire a shot. Line up your reticle at
the third guy and unload an entire magazine at him, missing wildly all around him
save for a single shot to his leg. Watch as Tess shoots him down, but console
yourself with the thought that he probably would have eventually bled out from
his leg wound, or at least had a really bad limp for the rest of his life. Get
shot from behind by the guy who ran through earlier, who you totally forgot
about. Where were you on that one, Tess?